Quebec police are on the hunt for a sticky-fingered thief after millions of dollars of maple syrup vanished from a Quebec warehouse.

The theft was discovered during a routine inventory check last week at the St-Louis-de-Blandford warehouse, where the syrup is being held temporarily. The Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers, which is responsible for the global strategic maple syrup reserve, initially kept the news quiet, hoping it would help police solve the crime quickly.

He said it's very difficult to trace and track maple syrup, so catching an illegitimate seller could be a significant challenge.

Note: The Global Strategic Maple Syrup Reserve is a thing that exists.

There is in Canadian Denny’s! You can tell which one you’re in by the subtle inclusion of a maple leaf in the logo. The All-American Grand Slam doesn’t change, but presumably you’re supposed to read ‘American’ = ‘North America’ rather than ‘American’ = ‘United Statesian’.

Maple syrup, like honey, is sweet because a natural system was storing energy and then we stole it. This time it's trees. In the right weather conditions the maple will stash energy and that eventually results in lots of sugary sap that is tapped and used to manufacture maple syrup. But this is season dependant, so you can't make maple syrup all year round, and some years you'll get a better harvest than others. The reserve isolates the market from nature somewhat, and thus maintains price stability.